


Symposium

by StarlightQueen17



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Character Study, Fantasy elements, Gen, Magical Realism, Platonic Soulmates, Possibly Unrequited Love, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Twilight's pov, Wild (Linked Universe) Angst, Wild's PoV, they are dorks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightQueen17/pseuds/StarlightQueen17
Summary: Philosophers called Soulmates a way for a fractured universe to piece itself together. A way for chaos in the soul to find peace.The kids at Link’s school dreamed about it as if it were a way to fill the loneliness that comes with being seventeen.Link called it what it really was. A curse. There is no running from a curse.Wild has spent his whole life with marks telling him he is bound to eight other people. His Soulmates. People he has never met but who will change his life forever, and on his Seventeenth birthday he is set to meet the first of them. Only he's quite happy with who he is by himself, and isn't exactly fond of strangers wanting in on his soul. Maybe he'll runaway from it all, or maybe a chance encounter with a goat expert will sooth his fears.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Malon (Legend of Zelda)/Time (Linked Universe), Time & Wild (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe), Zelda/Link (hinted)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 76





	1. PART I

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So sorry for disappearing after my last little project. A lot has happened recently, including this little plot I've been toying with since January. This is a two parter but I have tons of ideas for this AU so if you want to talk about it with me on the LU Discord. Thank you all for reading and commenting on my other fics, It really means the world to me.

The first thing anyone should know about having a soulmate is that it’s a pain in the ass. This is especially true if you are unfortunate enough to have eight of them. 

Tales of soulmates stretch back into eons, when stars were first forged and love was something strange and new to the world. The story had been repeated a thousand times by philosophers at podiums and romantics full of longing, and both often tell such tales in the same wanting voice. Romantic soulmates are captured in the fantasies of songs and poetic musings alike. Those who are born with something missing. They can not see the color in the world, they feel no pain, or could not heal from a wound completely on their own. These lost souls, usually only two at a time, find someone who matches them. A touch of a hand brings a flood of color, a stroke of hair brings feelings alight, and wounds mend under a gentle kiss. Where you were once broken, someone else makes you whole. 

Others were born with something extra. Words that person never heard that linger on skin, a string of red and gold wrapped around your finger, or a thousand little marks counting down the day you meet them. Constant little reminders that there was something, someone, your whole life was building up to meeting. A platonic soulmate. The people who would change your whole existence with a word, guide you through the maze life like a string, and who change the very fabric of your being. That is what Link belongs to. Where once he was a lost soul, in this life he was found. Bound to strangers by an act of fate. 

Philosophers call Soulmates a way for a fractured universe to piece itself together. A way for chaos in the soul to find peace. 

The kids at Link’s school dream about it as if it were a way to fill the loneliness that comes with being seventeen. 

Link calls it what it really was. A curse. There is no running from a curse.

There is no place anyone will look at the cloud like swirls that wrapped around his arm and up his cheeks and not know that he was bound to someone else. Link is pretty sure hiding in his room would not keep him from meeting his soulmate, but how would he know if he didn’t try? The philosopher’s never thought of that, did they. It was a nice room, even if the walls he painted blue as a child are now chipped and fading. He could walk six paces from one wall to the other so It wasn’t too small. He could jog in place to keep fit in his exile. He can even see the lights of the city and the silver of the moon through the window at his bed, and that might be enough scenery to get buy. Skyscrapers rise and fall all the time in Hateno, so the view won’t get stale. There was only one outlet in his wall though, and one of two plugs is already occupied by a lamp so he might have to go out to charge his phone. The poor thing was at ten percent after his friends filled his screen with well wishes.

Zelda <3: Happy Birthday! Remember, You can get through anything. 

Sidon: Remember to breathe! I believe in you!

Riju: * _Sand Seal clapping happily*_

Even Revali managed to send him something nice. 

Revali: Remember, these people are part of your soul. They’re just as dorky and trashy as you are. 

Well, that’s as nice as he ever gets. Link sends him a gif of burnt ravioli for his effort. They mean well but there’s no way they can untangle the knot in his mind or lift the weight on his chest. There’s no real way to prepare to meet your soulmate. It was a certinatiety in his life, like death and heartbreak, that they didn’t have to face. One that he’s prepared for since the marks appeared on his body as a child of nine. It seemed to be the number that ruled him. Nine people in one soulpod. Eight unopened eyes that sit in the crook of each spiral on his body, all connecting like a vine. Each represents a person. One by one, they’ll open and then, well, Link will be different. He will be more than himself. 

“Link! They’re going to be here in ten minutes, hurry up and get dressed.” His mom calls from the first floor, muffled though it is by the walls. He glances at the suit laid out the bed next to him. A mess of dark blue and tight silk that Zelda bought him for prom last year. He doesn't completely hate it. When he wore it under cheap fluorescent lights in a gym, with Zelda’s hand in his, he loved it. She even sewed extra buttons into the vest so that there would be ten in all. His friends, mostly Revali, teased him for his adherence to numerology, but they never had a number rule their life from the start. At least ten was a number he chose. It felt defiant to wear it to meet the first of the nine. 

His phone buzzes as he slips on his jacket and starts on his tie. His mom’s number pops up with two ominous words.: They’re Here. 

He could still disappear. He doesn't have to take a deep breath and calm his nerves, he could let himself scream until his voice frayed. He doesn't have to go down the stairs of the apartment, he could have gone out the fire escape. He doesn't have to pretend to be okay with meeting the person who would change him, he could be venomously cruel and turn his soulmate away without a second thought. 

But he holds that breath, and takes those steps, and smiles anyway. He wasn't raised to be cruel. No matter how nice it feels in the moment to let someone else be hurt by the words in his head it never beat the remorse that followed. This person didn't cause the marks. They had no more say than he did. So he steps into the kitchen with a smile that does not reach his eyes and hopes for the best. 

His mom set a cake at the table. Two tiers of chocolate cake and raspberry mousse in an Art Nouveau pattern that deliberately looks like his marks. It had been on display in their storefront earlier that day but apparently now it was time for it's real showing. Seventeen candles sat along the red icing that curved into a crescent, like the mark under his eye. They glow a soft light of gold that leaves Link with no warmth. Glasses of champagne glitter in its light, four in all and two in the hands of strangers. A round faced woman with peach skin dotted with freckles and red hair down her back looked in awe of his mother's handywork. Next to her, a broad man with gold hair and one eye stood wooden faced and board. Until he saw Link. 

“Hello there,” He says in a voice far more gentle than his appearance. His smile brings out the laugh lines in his tanned skin, and twists the blue streaks across his left side. “It’s good to finally meet you.” 

The women in the room snap their attention to him, and suddenly Link feels the world’s gravity shift and center on him. His mother looks just as out of her depth as he is. The gray in her light hair seems more prominent. She starts to come his way, but Link moves to the three adults first. The last thing he needs to impress upon his soulmate is that he still needs his mother to hold his hand and meet new friends, like a child. He wants to say that he doesn't care about what some stranger thought of him, but he deeply does. Perhaps it’s another part of the curse, or a flaw of his personality. Link matches the unfamiliar gaze of the man with each step, back straight and head high. No response given, only the faintest of acknowledgement. Yet the man’s smile did not falter. 

“Link,” His mother says as she hands him a glass of wine. “It turns out you and your soulmate share something interesting.” 

“More interesting than a soul?” He muttered as he took a sip. 

“I’d say so, although I’m used to it at this point. My name is also Link.” And at that point Link the younger chokes on his wine. 

“Excuse me?” He splutters. Link, the stranger who stole his name, laughs and scratches at the blue marks on his cheek. 

“It happens often with soulmates. We share a name because we inspire some similar feelings in our parents. One of our pod is a psychiatrist in training so he might tell you why better than I can.” 

“It can be overwhelming at first, but it’s not so bad once you get used to it.” The redheaded woman says. “My name is Malon by the way. It’s so lovely to meet you.” She offers her hand and he pauses when he takes it. There’s a wedding ring on her finger, one that matched the ring on his Soulmate's hand. 

"Nice to meet you. Must be really weird meeting people with your husband's name all the time. The soulmate thing is kinda…" Awkward? Stifling? Terrifying?

"It's unique. But there's actually less confusion than you think." Link took another slow sip from his glass. She didn't deny he was her husband. It didn't even register as something she'd hesitate to say.

"You'll see in a little bit. There's a whole process that comes with meeting, one that may take some time." The older Link said, slipping an arm around his Wife. A weight falls into his chest. They’re just so… normal about affection. Link walked through school with barely any hope of getting a crush to take his feelings seriously, and this man who stole his name gets to be married? This is the piece of his soul that gets love? Link finishes his wine in one swallow and silently hopes he chokes on it.

"This doesn't count as meeting me?" He asks with a sharp exhale. 

"In a conventional way, sure. But there's so much more to it than just saying hello. A true Meeting of soul mates is… an experience." He rolls up his left shirt sleeve to reveal complementary marks on his arm. Dark blue bands twist and intertwine with red in a double helix not unlike DNA. In the spaces between each curve sit five stars with nine points. At the base of his wrist, where the two bands join together and form a shape like a drop of rain, sat a lonely gold dot. "This one I have a feeling is you." He said casually. 

“Is this an ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’ situation, or…” 

“Link!” His mother snaps at him, with a sharp jab of her elbow into his side. His mother fixes him with a glare that could curdle milk, but Malon and her husband only laugh. A timer chimes and startles three of them, but his mother grabs an oven mitt off the counter and hustles over to the oven. “There will be plenty of time for a proper meeting after dinner.” 

It was an Alloway family matto of sorts, ‘nothing important gets done until after a meal’. It’s the side effect of being a family of bakers and cooks. When emotions run high and pull the mind into a downward spiral, the solution to their family is at the table. Link sits next to his mother and across from his soulmate at dinner, slowly cutting the limbs of his broccoli into small pieces. His mother and Malon do most of the talking. Malon tells them about the horses she raises, how their prize mare just had a foal in the summer. His mom tells her about a new cake she’s working on that involves matcha. If nothing else, Link is glad she’s made a friend in all this. His counterpart, however, has only spoken when Malon asks him for a detail she forgot, and chuckles a few times at his mother’s stories. But the older man’s eye darts to him every few minutes, and Link knows he is the only one the other man wants to talk to. No amount of food will fix that cold flush that fills him at the thought. Malon and his mom, their voices fade and blend into the background as the clock on the wall counts forward in echoed ticks. Link’s own heartbeat is the only thing that matches it in volume. There are some illnesses even a family tradition and good food can’t cure. 

“Not hungry?” The older man asked. Link swallows down the cold and wills his heart to quiet. He takes a breath, and fakes a smile. 

“I got a big lunch with my friends. I’m fine.”

The older Link had only one eye, and yet it felt as if he made up for it with a keen gaze that cut right through everything and made his skin prickle. 

“It’s okay to be nervous. When I got these marks as a kid I was a little scared too.” Link the younger straightened his shoulders and squared his jaw. 

“I wouldn’t say I’m scared. I’m not afraid of things that annoy me.” At that, the old man had the audacity to smile. Link doesn’t know what he expected his soulmate to be like, but this was not it. He seemed so happy, so relaxed, so normal with the knowledge that every moment that passed was one less moment of him being himself. Whoever he was now would be different after the tick of the clock. Then again, this isn’t his first time. The man before him is the oldest of the soulmate group, and he’s met every member of the pod who came of age before Link. It must be second nature to him to offer up pieces of his soul and invite strangers to shatter it and rearrange the fragments. 

Does he even remember who he was when he was seventeen? 

Link only gets through dinner and dessert because he wants to save this last meal as who he is. At seven thirty the dishes are put in the wash, the small talk comes to a close, and they all know there is only one thing left to do. He is set to really meet his soulmate. 

His mother gives him a soft squeeze before leaving the room with Malon. They step out the door and before he can protest or say a quick ‘I love you’, he is alone with the other part of himself. 

“First things first,” His Soulamte says, rising from the chair and walking towards Link, “Is to take a deep breath and relax. I promise you it’s not as bad as whatever you’re imagining.” He passes through the archway between the dining room and kitchen and grabs a glass from a cupboard. Link watches as he moves through the kitchen swiftly and returns with a cup of Ice water in his hands. 

“Drink.” is all he says as he sets it down in front of Link. For his trouble, Link gives him a glare and a silent question. The old man crosses his arms and rolls his eye. “Drinking will force you to relax your muscles. Unclench a bit.” 

Link sits there confused, and sips his water. 

“Okay, why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?” 

“You told me to drink water and relax. I can’t do that and talk to you at the same time.” 

The old man laughs in a harsh snort. He watches Link for only a moment before turning his attention elsewhere. His eye drifts to photos on the wall, and he does not ask Link a single question as he looks through them. He simply wanders the room as a silent ghost, taking in Link’s own home with a gentle curiosity. The old man inspects a painting that Link’s Aunt Impa made in her youth, and while his shoulders were drawn back and his gaze focused his fingers fidget at his side. They move in a rhythmic pattern, the same few shapes over and over again, though to what instrument Link did not know. It’s odd, Link thinks, that a man so broad and imposing could look like a child board in school. 

“What’s it like?” 

“Pardon?” The man asks, turning back to face Link. 

“The true meeting. You said it was an experience, but not all experiences are good. Some can be painful. So which is this. ?”

“It’s not painful at all, so no need to worry about that. The only way I can describe it,” He says as he draws near, “Is like discovering a song you know will become your favorite. Or seeing your home after a long journey. It can be a lot of feeling, or a little, but I would say it's to your benefit.” 

Link glances down at the marks on his arm, the memories that came with them, and has a hard time believing they are anything but a limitation. 

“What do we have to do?” 

Link the elder sits down and rolls up his shirt sleeve until almost all of the double helix is completely visible. The gold dot at the bottom almost glows against his skin in the dimmer light of nightfall. 

“First we hold hands. Any physical touching could work, but I think a simple hand shake would suit the two of us just fine.” Link rolls up his own sleeve and reveals his own winding marks. With a deep breath and a swallow he reaches to his soulmate, hesitating with each inch, as if the hand was made of flame. _This is my very last moment as myself_ , he thinks as he places his palm onto his soulmates. He is met with only the feeling of skin. His hand is rough and calloused but there’s no spark or rush or any of the magical feelings that should happen. 

“So far so good?” The older man asks. “We can stop whenever you need.” 

“It’s fine.” Link murmurs, “I just expected something… more?”

“The fireworks when you touch? Like they have in the movies?” The old man teased, “That’s mostly a romantic thing. Our type of bond is very different. Not as flashy, but if you focus you can feel it. Just close your eyes and breathe.” And Link does. It’s supposed to come naturally, this supposed magical thing that would guide him to the only other soul in the room. He closes himself off into darkness and listens, reaches, feels for something to grasp on to. With each breath he waits for the current he was already caught in to finish pulling him under, sending him crashing into someone else’s shore. But still there is nothing. There is only silence and the pulse of a stranger’s hand in his. The other man is calm, his heart a steady rhythm with an even rise and fall. Link can feel his own flutter and struggle. A beat of chaos to follow each beat of serenity. They chase each other, their heartbeats caught in a dance and with each second they are pulled closer and closer in time. 

A Beat. A Rise. A Fall. 

A Breath. A Hitch. A Stall. 

And suddenly their bodies bleed into each other as something comes together. The darkness over his eyes gives way to a brilliant green. The air no longer smells like his home, but the fog as it rolls over a mountain. The world rewrites itself, the walls and boundaries of his dining room crumble and fall away as a gale sweeps over and through him. He is overrun as rain crashes down and runs through rivers and waterfalls. A crash of thunder rebounds through his bones as lightning scars the ground. Pain is sharp, hot and fleeting yet does nothing to slow the slow unfurling of rare flowers after the storm. Fire and smoke rage against the earth but it is undying. Unmoored, untamed, all the world lives and dies and is reborn under his feet and in his mind. There are no boundaries. Everything else falls away and he is left surviving, completely and utterly Wild. 

“There you are.” His soulmate’s voice echoes. “Wild. That’s your true name. It wasn’t what I was expecting but it suits you.” 

“Is this… where am I?”

“Physically you are still at home. But you have always been more than just your body.” 

Wild looks up. That’s where the voice is coming from, so that’s what makes sense but he’s not even sure there is an up anymore. He doesn’t feel real exactly. He feels like every blade of grass spread out for miles, every stone smoothed over by spring water, and every vine that wraps around a branch. And somehow, despite that, he is nothing. And as nothing he moves closer to the only other nothing that beckons him. The stars turn from silver to gold as the other him speaks. They burn bright and fall across the sky in screaming streams of light, and he follows them. His soulmate isn’t a body he can see, but he can be found in the curvature of the earth. In the dawn, in the dusk, in the way stars swell and collapse in on themselves. He is found In the all consuming rifts that come after them. It is a childhood that goes by too quickly and a love that spans eons. His voice fits with the beat of the pulse and a tick of a clock. 

“Time. Your name is Time?” 

“Something like that. It’s the closest word we have to the feeling of me.” 

“This is a meeting?”

“This is only the beginning.” The words settle over his skin as delicately as a hand and guide the scattered pieces of him together. In this space he sees with no eyes and speaks with no tongue. The presence that is his soulmate is more cohesive, a single weight in the forefront of his mind. “I’ve had a lot of practice in this.” He replies, “Here, I’ll help you pull yourself together a bit. Picture yourself one piece at a time, and put it all together. First, picture your feet planted firmly on the ground, In one particular place, and go from there.” 

Wild does not argue, he begins to picture himself whole and together, even if his mind would rather wander and stray through this place. Visions of steep cliffs and sweeping plains roll away and his vision centers on one place, under the shade of a willow tree. 

“Well, you got the hang of that quickly.” Time greets him from nowhere. 

“Thanks. What exactly was that?” Wild glances behind the trees. 

“The being scattered part, or the coming together part?” Time says, and with a flash of light appears behind Wild. 

“Both really. Actually, how did I fall apart like that. What is this place? Something in my head?” Wild runs his hand over the trunk of the tree, and meets the rough, familiar texture of bark. 

“This is your soulscape. And yeah, you could say it’s in your head… more accurately I’d say it’s a part of your soul. It’s who you are so, that’s why you were spread out all over the place.” His soulmate says. Wild doesn’t have to look at him to hear the smirk in his voice.

“This is a thing between soulmates then?”

“Where did you think the term ‘soulmate’ comes from?” For all the wisdom he brought, there was a puckishness Time could not shake. What few others he's met who are soulbound had it too, though Time was not nearly so callous about it. When he was in middle school he went to a club for soulbound students. His mom had hoped he would make more friends, but he never felt right with that group. They all had a charm that was impossible not to love, born of confidence that came with knowing love was inevitable. When love comes easy, it's easy to love yourself. 

Wild didn't answer him, looking instead at the vast forest around him. Why waste time on the known when there is so much else to explore? Beside the Willow tree a stream runs in a shade of blue he had never seen before, lined with white flowers he didn’t know. It flowed deeper into a collection of trees with sprawling limbs and towering bodies. In the moonlight everything, even the moss that hung from the trees, seemed silver and silent and strange. His feet move before he realises it. As a child he wondered what it must be like, to wander into starlit woods and let yourself get lost. No being held back by the fear that your pain would become a stranger’s pain. Now that chance came to him in a new form.

“You want to explore? I’ve still got a lot of stuff to go over here kid. You’re still on Soulmates 101. ” Time said. He has an awful habit of guessing Wild’s intentions. Wild doesn’t answer at first, walking briskly towards the mouth of the wood. It’s only as Time follows him that he replies. 

“You say it like it’s a bad thing to discover my own soul a little bit.” Not to mention, it would give him a break from talking to his other half, he thought. Wild didn’t know about Time, but he’s had enough socialization for one day. 

“Well, I’m not really a half, more of a 1/9th. And here I thought we were getting along.” Wild freezes in his tracks, mere inches from the tree line, and turns swiftly to meet Time.

“How do you know my thoughts?” 

Time says nothing, his only answer is a finger pointing at the roots of Wild’s trees. It must be a trick, he thinks, but between the curves and crevices of bark there is a faint golden glow. The same color as the stars above them.

“That is the beginning of our meeting. When we enter each other’s worlds like this we gain a bit of each other, and it comes with a few perks. Like a certain amount of access to one another’s thoughts.” He says that too casually. Far to casually for Wild to understand, or to ever want to understand. 

“So this is it.” Wild says as he kneels, looking over the tree closely, “I knew having a soulmate changes you, but I didn’t realize it goes this deep.” Bit by bit, Time’s light eats away at the knotts and smooths over the flaws of the wood. Slowly, the light dims and brightens, and with each beat it expands up the roots and trunk. Flowers, once white and blue, now glitter an unnatural gold. 

“It’s not as bad as you think it is.”

“Really? What exactly is not so bad about watching my soul be consumed by a stranger.” Time flinched at his words. He looked at Wild like the younger man struck him across the face. That careful serenity fell so easily. 

“It’s not being consumed. Think of it as gaining a line to someone who can be there for you. That light, it means you’ll never be alone. Not after tonight.” In the glow of the moon, in the light that Wild’s soul provided, Time looked at once an angel and a devil. He stood proud, resolute in his offer to sooth Wild’s hurts and be a pillar whenever Wild’s world should crumble. It was sweet, Wild would admit. But he looks at the vast forests of his heart and mind, the raging rivers and glowing moon. Mountains laced with jewels and caves riddled with spikes were equally him. And he thrives. 

“I don’t need you. I appreciate this, but I’ve done very well for myself being alone. Being myself. I don’t see what I gain from this meeting, other than having you in my head. And isn’t there something a little insane about that.” He says in a ghostly whisper, “Yesterday you didn’t even know me. You still don’t really know me, but you’re ready to live in my head and hear all my worst thoughts. What do we do if we hate each other?”

Time shook his head with a slow eerie disbelief. As if Wild had told him the mood would turn red and fall from the sky. 

“I would never hate you.” He whispered. 

“But I don’t know if I can feel the same way.” Time stood frozen, and as the moonlight passed over his face Wild could see the man had shattered. There were no tears, no quaking lips and cheeks flush with hurt, just the vacancy where certainty had once been. This is why Wild didn’t want a soulmate. He was not a creature of the unconditional. It was pointless to bind yourself to someone when they hardly know you. Feelings included. It’s better, Wild thinks, to remain free even if it’s a little bit lonely. Time must realize it too, after all in just one sentence he feels far more cold to Wild than he had all night. 

“If you don’t want to do this, you just have to say so.” He says.

“I didn’t know that was an option.” Wild says as he stands to his feet. Time nodds, visibly stiff, as if he were in real pain. 

“This is a willing process. We can always end it at any time.” 

As long as Wild had known he had soulmates, he never knew there was a choice not to meet them. The stories told in every book he read or song he sang told of an immediate affinity so all consuming no one ever turned it down. But here a choice presented itself. His own chest stung as he said it, but quietly he said, “I… I don’t think I want to do this.”

“All right.” Time says. “This meeting ends here.” 

The bark, the gold, and the tree begin to fade. In Wild’s world everything begins to crumble. In his hands the background sensation of another person slips away. Wild is left alone with the weight of himself and he buckles under it. As the earth under his feet crumbles away he falls, and he falls hard and fast. With a jolt and a gasp, he opens his eyes. It’s all the same, the walls, the lights, the half empty glass of water in front of him. All the same except now his soulmate has moved away from him. Time leans back against the wall, arms cross and face unreadable. Time stands against the wall, leaning back and looking deliberately away from him. He’s not angry, in the back of his mind Wild can still feel him and anger is not what drifts through their half baked bond. He’s too raw and fragile, and sits in the throat and burns. The only thing between the two of them is the clock, It’s tick persistent and pulsing in the dead silence of the room. 

“It’s probably for the best. You wouldn’t want a selfish soulmate, after all.” Wild says, not sure if he’s actually trying to help. Time snaps his attention to him, hurt plain on his face. 

“You’re not selfish, Wild. Please don’t think you are. You have a fear but fear doesn’t make you selfish.” His voice is still steady, his sincerity hasn’t left. Yet the pain that echoes in the back of Wild’s head, it’s still there. Time is faint but he is still very real, and that is how Wild knows Time was honest. He can’t feel any anger or hate directed at him, no matter how much he looks for it. 

“Would you excuse me for a minute.” Wild says, getting up from his chair. Time nods, and Wild slips out the room and down the hall. He doesn’t think, doesn’t want to put any of his thoughts in Time’s head. He just walks to the front door and opens it. His mother and Malon are standing on the porch, smiles on their face. 

“How did it go Link?” His mother asks. He stares at her blanky for a second before he realizes she’s talking to him. Link is his name, the name she gave him, but it feels different now. 

“Good. It went well.” He lies. He looks his mother in the eye too, because he knows wouldn’t be able to look at Malon at all. “I’m actually going to pick up something real quick. Just down the street. Tylenol.” The women exchange a look but his mother quickly nods. Wild starts walking again. He takes a deep breath as he takes one step after another down the street, further away from Time. That is the only real destination. No thought or plan, just letting his whims carry him down streets and past apartment buildings and deeper into the heart of Hateno, counting every tenth step as he goes. 

  
  



	2. PART II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this has gotten longer than initially intended. Three chapters is probably the stopping point but if might still come back to it. I really want to thank you guys for all the feedback, all your comments have made my week! Feel free to chat with me about what you might want improvement on too! 
> 
> Also Travler is Hyrule's true name here. I thought it suited him.

If there was anything Twilight hates about Hateno City, it’s that the sky is so sterile compared to the thousands of delicate lights that sweep across it back home. Electric blue and Hot Pink lines the buildings of the downtown, and chases the lights above away. Steel, streets, and even people were caught like a blur in the harsh haze of the city glow. People hurry through the sidewalks, heads down and forward as they walk past Twilight, who keeps his gaze up, fixed on nothingness. It’s so fucking ominous. Just an endless expanse of navy that felt more than a little lonely. 

_Can a person be lonely on behalf of the stars? Seems like projection._ Traveler’s faint question echoes in his mind. His thoughts can still be harder to hear, but he adapts to telepathy fairly well for a newbie. 

_Why no_ t, Twilight replied, _people project their feelings onto stuff all the time. I mean Sky almost cried when his roomba died._

_I mean, I can’t deny that_. Sky chimes in. His voice was one of the most pleasant to have in his head, so effervescent and light. _But I think you're just a little homesick. You have this ache in your chest that I recognize._

_Maybe I am._

_When you get back with the extra toothpaste we can work on it._

_Yeah, sure, later,_ Twilight says, even if he knows Sky can feel his half heartedness. He turns into a corner store with a glossy white exterior. “Beedl’s” flashes across the top in blocky red letters. It’s as much of an eyesore as anything in the city, sleek though it may be. I _might go offline a little bit. I just feel like being alone right now, you know?_

_Understandable!_ Sky says, consciousness fading out of Twilight’s own. 

_Okay. Also if you could grab me a snack that would be great!_ Traveler says and is gone in a blip. The other’s get the message and as Twilight meanders through the isles the shields go up. When he’s alone, really alone, with his thoughts to himself and his soul completely moored to his body, Twilight feels more like Link Shepheard. He’s still the only person to know what that feels like. It’s a comfortable weight that comes with being the “responsible one”. Weight that sits on his shoulders, but never threatens to break him. It gives him a bit of strength to get out of bed some days to know that there are at least eight people who need him to, beyond just the metaphysical way. He was the one everybody turns to when things go sideways, who always has a hand to lend and a shoulder to lean on. So when Legend’s toothpaste exploded on a plane, he had no problem being the one to venture out of the hotel to replace it. And if doing that means he gets to explore a little, then it’s a win win. 

It’s not too crowded in the store. An elderly Gerudo woman with graying hair waves at him from the counter, and the other shoppers are caught in their own world. Twilights shoes squeak against the polished blue and white tiles of the floor as he makes his way down the isles. Everything from sugary snacks to over priced childrens toys stuffed the shelves, the order of items seemingly random. It is nothing like the tiny family store back in Ordon. One of only three in the town. Malo Mart was over a century old and in a brick building that probably should have been renovated before Twilight was born. They didn’t have nearly as much as these chain stores, but what it did offer was a fair bit cheaper and occasionally more charming. Twilight purchases a tube of toothpaste, a bag of chips called “Beedle Bites” (Which yes, were crackers shaped like beetles) with a can of soda and blanches at the price at the register. It was moments like that he wis sure the reason he has a few city dwellers in his soul pod is to see such a different way to live, and offer his way of life in return. Even Warriors, born and raised in the capital city, appreciates Ordon every now and then. Hopefully number seven will too. 

People think having a soulmate means you’re tied down, bound to one (or in his case, eight) other people. That they are all fundamentally the same and thus, never had to worry about difference or disagreement. A soulmate is the one thread in this world you can’t cut, or so the old saying goes.

It couldn’t be more wrong.

In each of his soulmates he found a unique person, some of whom were practically from different worlds. With each meeting, he was exposed to far more than he could have imagined. Never would have stepped foot in a plane if it weren’t for Sky. Wouldn’t have considered Vet school if Time hadn’t pushed him to dream a little bigger on the ranch. Even the mysterious number seven brings him to Hateno for the first time. _Will his soulscape be bright like the city lights?_ He thinks as he steps back into a night set aglow in a thousand man made stars. _Surely such a place will bring up a vibrant and brilliant soul._ He turns the thoughts and theories of his latest missing piece over and over as he walks back the way he came. 

Their hotel sat on the edge of the city's heart. A little inconvenient, but with seven people split between three rooms, convenience was a luxury none of them were willing to pay for. Besides, it gives Twi a good excuse to wander. Passed the blinding neon and slick chrome of the downtown streets, a park cuts through the silver giants. A park that wraps itself around and through the city like a serpent, from the golden Tower at its head at the west point of the city, to the Ancient Laboratory that grew the once small town into the tech behemoth it is today. You can get to just about anywhere in Hateno by walking through the park, and find a thousand things to distract you from getting there too. If you’re lucky they say, you might even see a nest of baby Talos wandering outside the sanctuary. 

Twilight steps through the iron gates, tall darkly colored things that were as much art piece as boundary, and enters a time and place distinct from the downtown. The gate itself is perhaps the oldest piece of architecture Twilight has seen thus far. Metal that is twists into sleek patterns of Fleur de Lis have lost their gloss and are now dim and faded in the moonlight. Rust eats at its feet. Tiny glass lanterns, crafted to look like fairytale minish under mushroom houses, are the only source of light nestled in the grassy park. Their light is not loud, not so full of color, but the soft blue of their glow offers more warmth. It sheds light on the subtle beauty around him. The trees lined with fresh pink buds on their limbs and green moss that wraps up their bodies. Butterfly bushes freshly risen from winter had yet to open their flowers, save for a few early bloomers in soft pinks and purples. They line the paths through the park, and Twilight holds his left hand out, running his fingers over them as he walks along. Dirt and jasmine replace the scent of gasoline and fast food, and air almost feels safer to breathe in. 

It is times like these he relishes being alone. The others would love the park, Traveler especially. Yet he already knows he won’t tell them about this detour. For right now, he just wants to commit to memory the silver sheen of moonlight on empty grassy hills. The soft glows of light upon the earth, the colors so faint in the night that they would disappear without your focus, and the gentle sound of his footsteps on cobblestone all create something that twilight can only find in solitude. Quiet. The noise of the modern is distant, locked behind iron fences. There are no animals braying, no classmates chattering. His own thoughts are all that drift through his mind. At this moment, he is the only one who knows what it is like to be Link Shepheard, alone in a park under a starless sky. 

As he turns down a curved path the fragile quiet breaks. 

“Fuck…” A soft, breathy voice half sighs and half groans. Twilight tenses at the sudden noise, looks to his side and behind him. To his right is a small hill with an ancient stone arch atop it. To his left, a grove of apple blossom trees. Nowhere to be seen, is the source of the voice. 

“Hello? Anyone out there?” He calls. There is a pause and a snap of a twig from the grove of trees. Twilight steps away from the trail, peering carefully through the branches. Under a dark wooded tree with a twisted bent trunk, a boy in blue kneels on one knee. The boy pays Twilight no mind, his focus solely on the ground as his hands frantically run through the grass. He is dressed nicely in pants and a jacket in royal blue that shimmer in what few flecks of moonlight find it. His pale blonde hair had partially fallen out of a long braid and covers a good half of his face. Definitely not the look one wears on an evening jog, especially for such a small kid at night. 

“Are you looking for something?” Twilight asks, his slight drawl more pronounced in some attempt to seem less like a threat. 

“No, I just like digging around in the dirt for no reason.” The boy replies with all the bite of ice. “Yeah. I lost a button.” 

“What color?” Twilight asks as he steps a little closer. The boy glances at him briefly, then turns back to his search. 

“It’s reddish brown. It kinda looks like lava almost.” Twilight nods, then sets his bag of goods down near the roots of a tree and gets on his hands and knees. An object that small and that color might be difficult to find in the grass and dirt. And away from the light of the moon too! The shadows do have a way of hiding the details of things. 

“What are you doing?” The boy stops his rummaging, head tilted to the right. 

“I’m looking for your button.”

“Okay… why?” Twilight simply shrugs in response. 

“Does there need to be a reason? You looked like you needed help and I’m here.”

If the button boy was confused before he now looks at Twilight like he is a sphynx offering a riddle. His stare is ice on Twilight’s neck, and Twi is more hurt that someone so young has any reason to look at the world with cold eyes. 

“You’re not really from around here are you?” 

“What gave it away?” Twilight says, letting his accent out at full force. The boy laughs, a rich and sweet sound, as he falls back on his side. “I’m from Ordon. It’s… in the middle of nowhere.” 

“Ordon… I know that place. Lots of goats right?”

Now Twilight almost falls over. In all his years, everytime he introduces himself and where he’s from this is the first time anyone has known his town exists. Not even Time, his farm raised soulmate, was familiar with it. Twilight just stares at him, and nods his head slowly. The boy smiles, and it is a playful, devilish thing. 

“Probably the best kind of goat cheese I can get is from ordonian goats. Used it in a goat cheese based cheesecake with honey and pecans.” He says wistfully, like remembering something from a pleasant dream. Twilight can’t say he would find those flavours appealing, but he nods along anyway. “It was really amazing!”

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to tell the goats you’re a fan.” Another laugh fills the night, and the layer of ice between them seems to melt a little. 

“Are you visiting?”

“Yeah, here for a meeting.” Twilight said quickly. He doesn’t want to specify what kind of meeting. People can get a little weird about soulmates, and even if this kid seems nice, Twilight doesn’t want to deal with the questions and probing that comes with telling people. “But I’m in Castle Town for school, so I won’t be able to give the goats your regards right away.”

“That's a shame.” The boy hums, "Here I was hoping for an in with the head goat.” Twilight chuckles as he hunts through the grass. 

"Oh well the head goat is hard to get in contact with. He practically runs the whole village."

"I can imagine it's quite the burden."

"Lots of drama with the Goat mafia all the time." Twilight says, and earns a smile from the boy. He doesn't seem to mind Twilight's presence as they pick through the grass. Twilight tells him a little bit about Ordon, he says he hasn't ever left Hateno, and Twilight finds it amusing that a kid from a big city has seen less of the world than a small town farmer. The boy's humor however, wanes as the search goes on.

"Okay, looks like it's plan B." He stands to his feet in a swift motion, hands on his hips as he looks down on the earth with disappointment. He’s not a towering figure by any means, but he holds himself with an undeniable strength. As if a glare could shame the ground into returning his lost item, and if it did not he would take it back by some other means. There would be no changing his mind on the matter. He turns his eyre to the apple blossom tree and takes a step back. 

“What's plan B?” Twilight asks knowing full well what he intends. 

“I think the button is in the tree. So I’m going to climb it.” 

“Why would it be in the tree?” 

“Because I was in that tree earlier.”

“Okay… but why?”

“Look, it’s been a long and weird day for me. I don’t know why I do things when I’m stressed.” He snaps, voice teetering between the edge of a frustrated yell and a tired sigh. He takes a running start at the tree and Twilight jumps to his feet. He grabs his odd companion by the shoulders and pulls him back as he was about to leap for a branch. 

“Kid is a button really worth trying to break your neck over?”

“Whether I want to break my neck climbing a tree or not is none of your business.” He pulls himself from Twilight’s arms. With a harsh tug he removes his jacket and a black vest and folds them haphazardly. He places them gently on the ground, turns, and throws himself at the lowest tree branch like some feral lemure. All this for a damn button. The boy grunts as he pulls himself up to the branch completely and crouches. Slowly, he crawls to the trunk, probably for leverage. The branch is just at eye level with Twilight, but the tree towers at twenty feet and the boy has his gaze fixed high. He glances down and Twilight tries to meet his gaze with crossed arms and a solid stance. But Twilight isn’t leaving, not until his little friend is back on the ground. 

“You know, you really don’t have to stand there. I didn’t ask you for anything, and you’re just wasting time worrying about me. Why are you even here anyway?” Twilight shrugs, not that the other boy could see it. Why was he doing this? It’s not like he knew this kid and he does seem to know his way around a tree. But it’s not about what’s personal. They can part ways and never meet again, and this kid will fade from his memory and Twi from his. But Twilight wouldn’t live with himself if the situation were reversed. 

“I guess If I were in your position, looking for something dear to me in a park alone at night, I would want someone to do the same for me.” 

The light of the moon catches his light hair and blue eyes as the kid sits on a second branch like a king on a throne. Fearless. Perhaps, Twilight thinks, he has worried too much. 

“That’s all?” Twilight nods, unsure of what else to say. “Here I was thinking you might be a serial killer or something, watching me and planning to wear my face.” He turns and throws one leg over the branch to continue his trek up the trunk. 

“I would never wear your face. That’s so last season. All the other serial killers would make fun of me.” Twilight says with a laugh in his voice, and like a contagion the boy laughs too. For someone so serious, he has a laugh like the wind over the cliffs. “Look I didn’t mean to worry you. I’ll get going if you want.” 

“You don’t worry me.” The boy says, resuming his climb. “Like I said, my day has been long. The night is going to be even longer. You can stay if you want, Just don’t tell me what to do. Had enough of that for a lifetime.” Twilight nods. As he watches his companion dart across the branches like a squirrel, Twilight thinks he really was worried about nothing. This kid is fine, probably climbs these trees all the time. If Twilight lived in Hateno he probably would be in the park all the day as a kid. Granted, he would be less reckless and just jog. Like a reasonable person. But caution was drilled into Twilight’s bones at this point. After all he was part of something more than himself. If he got hurt the others would either feel it or cut themselves off from him for possibly months. He never wanted to put someone in that position. This kid is willing to risk a lot for a button. 

“This better be a button made of solid gold.” Twilight says loud enough for the boy to hear. “You seriously can’t get another one?” 

“Yeah probably!” He yells, and Twilight isn’t sure if it’s due to frustration or because he is near the top of the tree. “But it’s not the point. Zelda picked out all the buttons on my suit, and I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Zelda is a friend?” 

“She made the suit for prom." Even from twenty five feet up, the kid’s face is notably bright red. "She picked out ten buttons because she knows it’s my favorite number.” Twilight laughs, not at the boy, but at memories of his own disastrous crushes. He’s certainly done stupider things for a crush. 

“That’s sweet. Well, if nothing this will be a fun story to tell her. It shows you care.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’ll probably never tell her. I probably seem stupid to her.” He says with a heavy voice. “You’re not wrong, it is a little ridiculous. Especially for someone who probably wouldn’t notice. It’s not like you can wear a nice suit on dates you're never getting. It just feels like something that was very... ‘me’ even if it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid.” Twilight replies, “Everyone has things that they get hung up on. It’s something special from a crush, who wouldn’t be a little weird about stuff from a crush.”

“It’s not even the button itself. I just have a thing about the number ten. I like to have things in that amount. It’s weird, but she never makes fun of me for it.” Twilight nods along with what the boy says, determined to be polite even if it’s a bit of an odd conversation. He’d heard of numerology, people who see meaning and codes in numbers and arrange their life around it. Traveler runs in a few occult circles and tells a few tails of superstitions and practices. It all seems a little silly to Twilight, but it can mean the world to another person, and he won’t take that from them. 

“It’s nice to have a friend like that. Someone who understands you.” Twilight says. He can’t feel the others while his mental blocks are up, but their roots are forever entwined with his, and just that knowledge brings comfort. The boy looks down at Twilight with a smile that falls somewhere between sadness and peace. 

“I don’t know if I’ll ever have that. But I’m okay with it. ”

“A friend?” Twilight asks. The boy in the tree nods his head and gives a shrug of his shoulders. “That’s a lonely way to live.”

“It’s not that I don’t have friends. But there’s always something between us.” He says as he sits on the branch, one hand on his cheek. “I just don’t think they’ll ever quite understand me. People are so different, so isolated. I don’t think anyone can understand another person without giving up part of themselves. And in that case I'd rather be lonely.”

“I don’t think that’s true.” Twilight says before the boy is finished. “Maybe your friends don’t understand every part of you, but do you need them to? Isn’t it just enough to be happy with someone even if you don’t understand them? I don’t really understand you but I care about you. Wouldn’t that make us friends for the moment.” The boy turns his attention to Twilight in a snap, and looks down on him as if he has just proposed something indecent. 

“Why would you consider me a friend? You don’t even know me.” And Twilight nods, agreeing. 

“Yeah. We don’t really know each other. But I care about you now. And you don’t have to do anything with that, but you don’t have to be alone unless you want to be.” Twilight holds his gaze with the other boy. As the moon rises above them he can see a bit of a smile on him. 

“You’re so weird.” He sighs and stands from his perch. “But at least you make for good conversation.” He turns to grab the next branch, his weight shifts to the left ever so slightly. One foot leaves the branch before it should, and comfortable silence is warped into a gasp and a yelp as the rest of the boy’s body follows him over the edge. Twilight runs before he knows completely that the boy is falling. He holds his arms out, ready to catch him, but in the few seconds it takes to fall nothing actually lands. Twilight stands under the tree with arms outstretched and waiting. 

“See. Told you I could take care of myself.” The boy says from above him, audibly shaken. One hand holding on to a branch, and his right leg hooked around the trunk. The blue of his trousers now tore from the cuff to the knee on that leg. He swings his other arm up, and grimaces. “Just gonna figure out how to get down.” 

“Will you let me help you?” Twilight keeps his arms open, and his tone as even as possible. “I promise, I’m not saying you can’t do it yourself. I’m just letting you know you don’t have to do it yourself. Your call.” Twilight can’t see the boy’s face. Like a puppet on string, he hangs there with his eyes shut. With a deep, shuddering breath he lets go of the branch with his good hand, and does the same with his left. He falls with the light of the moon on his face, silver glow in his skin and hair, and Twilight sees the clear details of a Soulbound mark on the right side of his cheek. 

When he falls, he is met not with the hard ground but by the arms of a friend. Twilight catches him in a fireman’s carry, and settles him awkwardly back to earth. 

“Let me see. I don’t think you’re hurt too badly but I’ll double check.” 

“I’m fine. It’s just a little sore” He mutters but moves his own hand so Twilight can better see his shoulder. It’s not popped out of its socket, he moves it around fairly easily, but not without a wince and gritted teeth. 

“You’re very lucky, looks like it’s just strained.” 

“Yeah.” He says quietly, eyes practically locked on his shoes. The elegant black pattern on his cheek, now haloed in a rose bush, curls and twists like ivy vines. An ache spreads through Twilight’s own heart. The boy looks his way, and Twi immediately turns his head. Staring is considered rude after all, which is why he keeps his hidden. “Thanks, by the way. I… I mean, for helping me. You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s no problem.” Twilight mutters. He never was a natural at accepting praise. It brings out a burning in his face as he is paralyzed by his own humility. His new friend however, offers a hand, and he at least knows what to do with that. 

“I’m Link.” He says. “Link Alloway.” 

Sometimes Twilight can feel the hands of fate guiding him. Sometimes they slap him in the face. 

“You can call me Twi.” He says quickly and takes Link’s hand gingerly. Gentle swirling patterns that match those on his face decorate his hand too. Twilight takes a deep breath and tries not to look much closer. Afterall, just because his name is Link, the same name that most likely all of the soulpod have, doesn’t mean he is their soulmate. There could be thousands of Link’s in Hateno. Dozens of them probably have soulmates. Besides, their new member should be meeting Time right now, not climbing trees. His mind tries to find rational in a world he knows to be devoid of it, and he hopes his nervous thoughts don’t show. If they do, Link doesn’t mind. “If anything, I’m sorry for being a distraction. You looked like you knew your way around a tree.” 

“I used to come to this park all the time as a kid. Spent a lot of summer nights with my mom camped out here. Not so much anymore, but I still remember how to rough it.” He says with a nervous laugh.

“Well, if this is roughing it you should see Ordon. Nothing but mountains and trees the size of skyscrapers. You go far enough out and you’ll be in total darkness. Just you, the moon, and the stars.”

“That honestly sounds amazing.” Link says with a grin, his sullen tone now gone. “The closest we have to that is the beach down past the cliff. I’ve never been after dark, my mom says it’s too dangerous, but It’s supposed to be beautiful.”

“You sound like the type who lives for danger.” Twilight says. Link shrugs, but the thin smirk on his face hides nothing. 

“Maybe I am. Or could have been, in another life.” He brushes his long hair aside, his soul marks on full display. “But for now my biggest dangers are in the kitchen. Fire, knives, carbs, all very risky things. If you’re here for a few days, stop by the Silent Princess. I owe you a treat.”

“Oh, you don’t have to.” Twilight says with a polite shake of the head, “Really, I-”

“But I want to.” Link says. “I want to thank you. Plus you’re nice to talk to.” Twilight doesn’t think he’s ever seen a person with as stubborn a face as Link. Definitely never met someone with such unstoppable fire in their eyes. Twilight sighs and realizes soulmate or not, he probably couldn’t say no to him anyway. 

“Okay. I’ll try to stop by.” 

They go their separate ways not long after. Link realizes how late it is with a slight panic, and heads in the opposite direction Twilight’s headed. Twilight watches him run past until he disappears from view. He raises a hand to his forehead, and slips his fingers under the headband to brush at his own marks. They wrap around his head like an iron crown, intricately connected with sharp ornait edges. Eight diamonds studded it, and five of them had a unique color for each soulmate he met. It would be six in a week's time. He picks up his bag of goodies from the tree he left it by and begins his trek to the hotel. Maybe the boy is part of their group, maybe not. There is only one way to find out. With a deep breath, he lowers his mental guards, and like a rush of rain, five other souls drift into his. 

The chaos is immediate. A flurry of emotion and half formed thoughts greet him, fragments of panic, sorrow, and in his right shoulder, a prick of pain.

_Why would he run away-_

_Is it even possible to reject-_

_Is he hurt? Did anyone else feel that in their arm?_

And Twilight runs the rest of the way.

The hotel rooms are open when he gets there. His soulmate’s chatter can be heard down the hall. Twilight was glad not many people vacationed in Hateno this time of year. Late winter kept most kids and college students at home, so the group of them had multiple rooms close together to choose from. Twilight shares his with Traveler and Legend. Sky and Warriors were to the right of them, while Time and Malon to the left. A few tired businessmen peek out from their doors as Twilight heads to his room, and he mutters apologies under his breath. Malon stands outside the rooms, arms crossed as she leans against the wall. She spots him and tries to offer a smile. It’s in her nature to try to comfort, to be useful when people are hurting. But there’s nothing she can do about this mess. Everyone is in disarray.

Time sits on his bed, face pinched in frustration as he rubs his temples. Warriors paces in front of him, asking questions too rapidly for anyone to answer. Legend and Traveler both have their phones out, arguing about details of definitions in the back of the room. Sky is the only one who isn’t despondent or yelling. He sits at a chair in the corner, nibbling on ice chips and rolling his shoulder absent-mindedly. They pause once he steps through the door, clueless, and holding a bag of convenience store snacks. Warriors speaks to him first. 

“You picked a hell of a time to go offline!”

“I-” 

“Don’t be mad at him!” Traveler snaps, “Legend needed toothpaste and I needed snacks. We didn’t know everything would implode tonight.” He walks up and takes the bag from Twilight. 

“I’m sorry, there’s a lot of noise in my head right now. What exactly imploded?”

“Our latest Soulmate.” Time huffs as he looks up at Twilight from the bed, “Decided to run away after ending the meeting. Without even completing it.”

“Like… how long ago would you say he left?” Twilight asks.

“Why is that relevant?” Legend quips with a roll of his eyes. 

“Because I think I might have rescued him from a tree.” 

You could hear a pin drop in the silence of the room. All of Twilight’s stare at him with wide eyes and half open mouths, but their thoughts are a wave of questions. 

_What do you mean rescued?_

_Was he okay?_

_What was he Like?_

Twilight shakes his head and hopes he can shut out the flood. It can be overwhelming when they’re all like this at the same time, their thoughts get louder and louder as they fight for attention. It’s given more than a few of them headaches. 

“Everybody calm down!” Time says out loud. It can’t stop the flow of thoughts, but they’re not concentrated on Twilight anymore. “Let’s not overwhelm him. Twi, if you wouldn’t mind telling us a little more It would be a big help.” Time speaks with a steady voice and an even tone. To an outsider he might sound completely fine, and in control of everything. Twilight knows him better than that. Time is practically his second father on top of having linked souls. He’s the soulmate he spends the most time with. He can feel the tender parts of his psyche and the hurt feelings he can’t will away. He won’t ask Time directly, not now, but he will make things easier on him. Twilight explains the encounter he had with the boy, Link Alloway, and their hunt for a lost button. He goes into specifics, he was wearing blue, he had marks like vines on his cheeks, and long blond hair. He told them about their conversation, though kept some details to himself. Things spoken in confidence that he probably wouldn’t want shared. Time listens intently and the others watch him for any sign of an answer. When Twilight is done, Time nods his head and sighs.

“Yeah that sounds like him all right. Prickly attitude and all.” The others don’t seem less worried by this. A few even look more distressed. 

“I still don’t understand. Why would someone run from their soulmate?” Sky asks, his words laced with a twinge of sadness. 

“He had cold feet.” Time says, “Seems like the idea of joining souls scares him. But he wasn’t exactly warm and friendly to begin with. He spent most of the night trying to ignore me.” Time looks at Twilight as if he might have a better answer, and the others follow his lead. Twilight thinks of the wild boy in the park and couldn’t imagine he’s ever been afraid of anyone. But he’s dealt with plenty of people who are cold, and distant, and it's rarely ever due to fear. 

“I think he’s just a little sad.”

“How so?” Legend asks. He knows more about sadness and emotions, all that stuff in the brain that can help or hinder a person. “You think he might be depressed?”

“I don’t know. That would be more your expertise than mine. But talking to him I got the sense he’s lonely, and mostly by his own choice. He mentioned feeling like there's always something between him and everyone else...”

"You think he means us?" Traveler asks. Twi nods his head. Saying the obvious out loud would sting a little too much. When Twilight was a child he used to look at his marks and feel safe. That perhaps that wasn’t a true feeling for everyone, that he was the cause of someone feeling alone? That doesn't sit well with any of them 

“I have to agree.” Time says with a sigh, “He knew hardly anything about meeting, and the idea of it did not go over well.”

“So what are we supposed to do with that?” Legend half yells, “Should we just leave? How do you have a soulmate who doesn’t want you?” A searing burn pulses through their shared bond. The idea of leaving one of them behind sits as well with them as cutting off a limb. Twilight thinks of Link Alloway, how the few moments they shared as strangers gave him more than a soul merger with Time. Twilight is unused to having an answer for things. So he gives the best answer he has. 

“I think we just talk to him.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update should be in two weeks! Back to Wild's pov where he mulls over some feelings.

**Author's Note:**

> Next Week: A country boy gets lost in the city and runs into a salty boy in blue.


End file.
